Medici
The Republic of Medici is the fictional nation in the Mediterranean where Just Cause 3 takes place. Description For the purposes of this article, the nation is mostly described as it is at the start of the game, under the rule of General Di Ravello. The nation is sometimes reported to be "nearly 400" square miles and sometimes "just over" 400 square miles. 400 square miles is the size of Panau but Medici is more densely populated than Panau. Medici is supposed to be an island near the west coast of Italy. The name means "Doctors" or "Medical" in Italian and Romanian and was also the name of a prominent Italian renaissance family. :JC3 art director Zach Schlappi: :"For Just Cause 3, we wanted a sort of new location, and no one has tackled the Mediterranean in the way we saw it. Of course, Assassin's Creed had Florence and Italy, but we were looking at Monaco and the central/southern Mediterranean. It's such a good area because it's a little bit of everything. Everyone's done South America. Everyone has done Eastern Russia, but we thought that the Mediterranean was an untapped resource. I looked at a span of places from Sicily to Northern Africa to Greece to Albania, which gave us a nice quilt to work with. There are some great dusty environments, and you get some of that hot hazy feeling, those beautiful emerald waters, and those great big skies. It seems like a great area to lay waste to, because it was so beautiful. :A deep world has to have some culture, it has to have a lot of meaning, it can't be something that's throw-away or disposable. Medici is believable and yet very approachable. It's a place you might want to go on vacation, yet it has trouble. It has a dictatorship. After that, I wanted to ask ourselves, 'How do you play with that language in the environment?' So, I created a system of colors: grey, yellow, and red are the colors of oppression. While the pristine world is full of more natural colors. If you look at any picture of the Mediterranean you see blue skies, wheat fields, and a lot of lavender. If you look at all our concept art there is a constant color theme of golden ochre versus teal blue. It's always those two complementary colors bouncing around. :We have five different biomes and they all have their own palette feel. Each one has an identity. There is an air of exploration and expanse as people travel the world. We have two different coasts. One that is brutal with jagged rocks and deep sea cliffs, and the other is very smooth and sandy where all the tourists go. As you wander further inland you have the pastoral areas, which are full of fields of lavender and sunflowers like in Italy or Spain. That adds a sense of the human element to the game; this is a place where people live. It also creates a contrast for the scrublands which is like the Mediterranean wild west, which is full of industry and deforestation. Beyond that you have the forest, which are full of mystery and have a smokey atmosphere. Finally, players will approach the icy mountains. So players have this full sense of progression of all representations of water, from mountain snow to watery coasts." Government Medici is officially a republic, however in reality it is a military dictatorship headed by General Sebastiano Di Ravello. The oppressive government is opposed in an ongoing civil war by rebels who call themselves simply The Rebellion. Medici is not a member of the European Union, as evidenced by the car license plates. However, the description from Griphon states: "The lofty fortress of Griphon is one of Medici's largest military airfields. During the Cold War, Di Ravello reluctantly loaned out Gryphon to his Western allies, and a contingent of NATO aircraft called the base home during the days of the Cuban Crisis" Therefore, it can be assumed Medici was a reluctant collaborator of NATO. Known state offices: *Medici Military - They are the priority 1. *D.R.M. - Militia. *DRF - Stria Switzo Propaganda drivers and Ambulance drivers have badges with these letters. It makes sense to assume that the propaganda vans belong to the Ministry of Enlightenment and Stability, but the DRF seem to represent the majority of civil service civilians. *Banco de Medici - Advertised on the Mugello Farina Duo and offices in cities. *Ministerio de l'Agricultura ("Ministry of Agriculture" in the Medician language) - Mentioned on some propaganda projector slides. *Ministerio de le Tourismo ("Ministry of Tourism" in the Medician language) - Mentioned on billboards next to Daredevil Jump ramps. *Ministry of Enlightenment and Stability - Mentioned at the Rebel drop for the News Chopper. *Ministerio de l'Education ("Ministry of Education" in the Medician language) - Mentioned on some projector slides. *Ministerio de l'Energia ("Ministry of Energy" in the Medician language) - Mentioned on some projector slides. *Ministerio de l'Industria e de L'Obra Minerary ("Ministry of Industry and Mining" in the Medician language) - Mentioned on some projector slides. *Ministry of Military Hygiene - Mentioned by General's News Network. *Department of Beautification - Mentioned by General's News Network. *General's News Network - Government radio station. *Medici Space Program - Satellites, space monitoring bases and more. Provinces Medici consists of 3 regions and 29 provinces, with DLC doubling the number of regions and adding 7 provinces. Some provinces are fairly small and contain a few outposts, one or two towns, and a military base, like Feno, Baia, and Costa Sud. Some provinces are special regions for particular settlements: *A rebel base or safe haven will have its own province. Refugio Umbra has its own province, Cauda houses Grotta Contrabandero, and Cava de Rebelles lays in Soros. *For each of the three regions in the base game, a small province near the center of the island or group of islands houses the regional central command (CentCom) tower and base. In Insula Fonte, Cima Leon: Centcom commands the region in Aspera, Corda Dracon: Centcom is located in its titular province at the heart of Insula Dracon, and Falco rules Insula Striate by housing Falco Maxime: Centcom. *Regno is a province designed to exclusively hold the capital of Medici, Citate Di Ravello. In the DLC, three regions are added: Scolio, the EDEN Airship, and Insula Lacrima. Only Lacrima contains individual provinces. Scolio only has one province designed for containing the Stingray facilities, and the Eden Airship is a province of its own, with its region being classified as the EDEN Airspace. Geography .]] The nation is located in a fictional Mediterranean archipelago. Improvements into game coding have been reported to make underground locations like caves possible. The nation has five distinct "biomes": *Coastal area with large rocks and cliffs. *Coastal area with sandy beaches and tourist resorts. *Inland area with agricultural fields and industrial facilities. *Forest area which is said to be "full of mystery and have a smokey atmosphere". *Icy mountains. There are 3 regions in Medici which are Insula Fonte, Insula Dracon, and Insula Striate as well as two independent islands: Boom Island and the Volcano Island. However, as stated above, there are several regions added in DLC including the EDEN Airspace, Insula Lacrima and Scolio. History and culture For ancient Medici, see Ancient Medici. Medici has a lot of ancient Greek-style temple ruins. Several of them have an altar dedicated to a bull. There's new potted plants around them, indicating recent activity. There's also many new cathedrals and monastery-looking buildings, but, strangely, at least one of those also has the same bull head sculpture on its wall. Several sets of ruins also have 3 meter tall statues of women and mysterious magical obelisks. Medici was invaded by barbarians during the fifth century BCE. After that, Medici was taken over by Ancient Rome, who named the islands Medici. During this time, the capital city was Manaea. Rome invested a large amount of money into the construction of the large aqueducts (see Gallery). This indicates that Medici was once a relatively well developed area. Medici also has a lot of ruins of star forts, but little is known about Medici from those eras. A few settlements are said to have been founded around the renaissance time and some obscure war destroyed one fortress. In more recent history, one of Medici's military bases is known to have been destroyed by unknown forces during World War 2. It is also known that Medici was a notable power in the Cold War, as evidenced by the in-game map description of the settlement Cima Leon: Silo, which states that: "The Silo of Cima Leon is a remnant of Medici's early nuclear ICBM tests during the Cold War". ''However, it's unclear weather Medici actually had a nuclear program, or whether it was simply complying with its NATO allies. Insula Striate is divided by a large concrete wall. The northern areas contain modern Military bases in Medici and ruined towns. The towns were all destroyed in an event known as The burning of the north. There are multiple minor hints and good theories, but no definitive evidence to logically explain it. In the recent years, Medici went through a civil war. The Medician language is a combination of Mediterranean languages. The actual spoken language depends on the user-defined game language (list in the infobox above). Many towns have street musicians (who only appear after town liberation by The Rebellion) and football fields. Medici has relatively many sports cars. Though this is dependent on if the player has liberated the town Civilians are often seen smoking, and judging by advertisements love their alcoholic beverages. Religion Native religion(s) For full info on the ancient religions, see Ancient Medici. Medici has at least one native religion that is still being worshiped (as proven by new flowers at all ancient altars). The more common one of these seems to have worshiped a bull-deity. This religion also includes large statues of women. These statues are never inside a temple and can only appear just outside the temple doors, or on the edges of balconies. One ancient temple has statues that move when approached by the player (listed as part of an easter egg). The other ancient religion has stone obelisks. Each obelisk (except one, which might have been under construction) has a pentagram and some letters carved into it. They also have small eternal fires on them which even burn under water. It is currently unknown why or how these fires burn under water (possibly as a result of witchcraft performed by the worshippers). Some theories also suggest that these burning obelisks might lead to another easter egg. The obelisks probably belong to a different ancient deity, or even a whole separate religion, as indicated by them never co-existing at the same settlement/ruins as the bull and women statues. It's unknown what religion this belief is a part of, but reportedly, "''The quaint town of Cirilla is named after Cirillo Salroso, patriarch of the ancient Salirosan people. On the third Sunday of every month, those that still uphold the "Way of Cirillo" meet privately, to share bottles of wine and good food, hoping the spirit of their once-beloved leader will look down upon them and their families favorably." Abrahamic Medici seems to predominantly follow Christianity. While the branch is never specified, it is likely that it is Catholicism, like its other Mediterranean neighbors. For the newer religious buildings, see Churches in Medici. Strangely, there doesn't seem to have been any recent activity at any of the newer cemeteries. One of these is near Burgoletto at about N 40 45.650 E 5 38.000. There are a number of graves, each marked with a stone, but the stones themselves are completely unmarked. The only building present is a relatively small square shaped building that has no religious symbols. Its architecture is identical to the newer religious buildings, so it probably belongs to the same religion, but the absence of religious symbols and lack of recent activity would indicate that Medici is a relatively nonreligious country (either following the trend of its European neighbors, or perhaps because the regime restricted religious practices, parallel to real-life dictatorships). Medici has no lack of churches, however, as they can be found all over the country. Energy and industry A portion of Medici's energy is produced by Wind Turbines. These likely only supply the Towns in Medici, because Medici Military have their own power plants, like Vis Electra and a Bavarium reactor at Corda Dracon: Centcom. As revealed by the map description for Guardia Massos IV, Medici has separate electrical power grids for the military and for the civilians and the civilian one is apparently very unreliable. It's unknown what specifically this is, but some store windows have a small green sticker that says "Bibitas energic Biber Energia 100% Natural". (Bibite is Italian for soft drink so likely referring to carbonated fizzy energy drinks) Medici is in possession of the world's 14th largest natural gas reservoir under Porto Darsena. Medici has a substantial amount of oil and natural gas in offshore reserves. It seemingly also has a well developed network of gas refineries and distribution centers. While the nation apparently has enough oil and gas to satisfy its civilian and industrial fuel needs, General Di Ravello has redirected most fuel resources to further the production of Bavarium or power his military infrastructure. Medici also has a railroad network which transports supplies for the military. Medici has a unique mineral called Bavarium that only exists in Medici. As seen in this video the mineral is said to be "very explosive" and also have "weird magnetic properties". This is the main drive for Sebastiano Di Ravello to want it. All the Bavarium mines use slave labor from prisoners. Agriculture Medici has lots of fields, including for some straw crops and vineyards. It also has a lot of livestock, including cows and goats. The wine is apparently some of the best in the world. Civilians can be heard arguing about what wine is best. A lot of the food seems to come from the fields, like cows, goats, orchards, wheat/grain and vineyards. The fact that civilians use older machinery shows agriculture isn't funded much or at all by the government, despite the propaganda on projectors. It is strange that cows are farmed considering a number of the population worship them. Trivia *This nation is the home of Rico Rodriguez, the protagonist of the Just Cause game series. More information on that can be found in the Di Ravello tapes, a multi-part audio diary of Sebastiano Di Ravello himself. *The name of the nation might be based on the House of Medici, a banking family, political dynasty and later royal house that began to gather prominence in the Republic of Florence during the late 14th century. *The Medician language is a mix of various Romance languages, such as Italian, Sicilian, Romanian and Spanish. It also appears to include nonexistent and/or dialectical words. See also: interlingua. *The flag is based on the flag of Syria. However, the flag also resembles the flags of Italy, Kurdistan, Hungary, Equatorial Guinea, an old flag of Iraq (1963-1991), Tajikstan, Iran and Mexico *According to the co-ordinates (N 40°44' E 5°38'), Medici lies south of Marseille and west of Sassari. **This is supplemented by the Eden Callaghan tapes, which refer to the Stingray as being "in French coastal waters." *This is the only nation in the Just Cause Game Series that doesn't have a proper international airport. Gallery Just Cause 3 leaked screenshot (landscape).png|One of the pre-announcement leaked screenshots from november 2014. Just Cause 3 promotional artwork 2.png|Promotional artwork. Just Cause 3 coastal town and radar base.png JC3 Freefall.png|Promotional screenshot. JC3 blue plane and explosion.png|Urga U17 Akrobat. Medici countryside.png|Promotional artwork. Medici giant cliff.png|Promotional artwork. This would be the worlds tallest sea-level cliff, if it was real. Medici mountain castle.png|Promotional artwork. Notice the Large ships in Medici and CS Navajo. JC3 rocky coast.jpg|Medici coast. Just Cause 3 island and logo.PNG JC3 wingsuit2.png|Wingsuit. JC3 parachuting on countryside.png JC3 tractor and castle.PNG JC3 Panorama.png|Aqueduct. JC3 Panorama (field and tractor).png JC3 helicopter fight.png|Hilly forest. JC3 skydiving after fighter.png Snowy forest in Medici.png JC3 forest.jpg JC3 civilians, tourists.png|Civilians at Ancient Medici ruins. Just cause 3 cliff village.png|A cliff village. Medici is filled with large cliffs just like these. Di Ravellos castle near a city at Insula Striate.jpg|An old castle near a city at Insula Striate. This is said to be Di Ravellos palace. Medici mountain and old town.jpg|Insula Striate has many burned towns. Rico and Medici postcard.png|Rico with a Medici postcard during Welcome Home. Complete Medici Map.png|Complete Map of Medici, including the areas added by Downloadable content for Just Cause 3. JC3 map during development.png|Map of Medici, seen in a video about game development. JC3 ancient ruins.png|Roman-era ruins. JC3 promotional artwork with helicopters and an underground base.png|Promotional artwork with an underground base and Urga Hrom Ds. Medici city.png Medici coasts.png Medici location map.png|Approximate Medici location according to the coordinates. Medici countryside 2.png|Wind turbines. Medici on med 2.png|Medici on the Mediterranean in true scale, it is tiny but very complicated for island of its size. Medici Numberplate.png|The Medician numberplate that can be found on the front and rear of cars. Libeccio graveyard (N 40 45.650 E 5 38.000).png|Graveyard at Libeccio. Category:Content Category:Countries Category:Just Cause 3 Locations